Traveling...

Take a moment and go back two Saturday's ago...
Gorgeous summer day.
Hanging out at PANYC- the place I go to you know, touch up my natural blonde.
Reading the paper and come across an article about AIRPORTS. Especially AIRPORTS in New York City.

As I sit with tin foil coming out of my head, I read out loud to all in the salon, that NYC is notorious for delays, cancellations, and carries a huge amount of responsibility if/when the rest of the country feels the affects of flight changes. I then state: "Hmph, I mean I have had some of this stuff but nothing ever that bad."

I might as well have stapled a huge target to my head that read: "JINXED."

Tuesday I pack and hop in the car and head to Newark. I arrive with plenty of time and because I travel often, jump in the Elite Access line, throw my bag on the scale and scan my credit card to get my ticket. At that moment, the jinx put its nasty little hold on my travel plans.

"Miss Simons, your 3:30 flight has been cancelled. The next one available is at 7:30. Have a good day."

Umm... did anyone think to tell me? No. So now, I've got a solid five hours to fill chilling in the airport. Don't know when the last time you got the joy of roaming around an airport for five hours, but you quickly realize your options of entertainment are few and far between.

I eat.
I buy gum.
I buy water.
I sit and wait.

In an effort to not drag you through the torturous delay, my flight wound up actually boarding at 11 pm that night. We took off at midnight. We landed around 1 am. We waited on the runway for another thirty minutes. To top it off, it is raining. Because of some fire marshal order, there is nothing connecting our plane to the gate. We then had to walk through the rain. Sweet.

So 12 and a half hours later, I am in my hotel room ready to go to sleep. All that just to get to Baltimore, MD. I could've taken the train and arrived in under an hour. Wow.

Things I learned:
Airports are freaking loud. The PA system goes non-stop. Try listening to that for 8 and a half hours.
The chairs at the gate are the single most uncomfortable things to sit in. No one sits that straight up and that forward naturally.
It costs a dollar to make a long distance call on the pay phones. I also have no clue on how to use one. Seriously. I tried to help this kid from Norway call his brother, the phone ate my change.

Marianne Pearl is one of the bravest women alive and her husband should be a symbol of all things good in this world. I picked up the book "A Mighty Heart" hoping to get some reading in while waiting. What a story. It hurts your heart and you feel such pain for this woman who in a foreign country and pregnant must hold on to any small glimmer of hope that her husband might come out of the darkest situation imaginable alive.

It is a great great read. I know the movie is out and I've heard wonderful things, but I always like the book versions better. And so in a weird way, I'm thankful for being stuck in the airport and getting the chance to be touched by such a powerful yet tragic story.

(*but I really hope that the jinx is over*)